6 EDCAL July 30, 2018
MILLER
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high. An annual speech writing and public
speaking event is one example of the clear
expectation for excellence she sets, as well
as the tight-knit community she has helped
to build. The entire community joins in
celebrating the work of the students and to
support the district.
Miller was always drawn to leadership.
“My desire to become an administrator
started very early in my career,” she said.
“When I first started teaching I found
myself relating to the administrative side of
education. I have always enjoyed being part
of the planning and problem-solving pro-
cesses that can bring about positive changes.
And, I have always enjoyed collaboration
with my colleagues. Realizing that I could
‘lead the learning,’ to borrow a title from
Paula Rutherford, moving into the school
MORALES
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him to addiction. His father, deported when
Nick was eight, was seldom accessible.
“My mom had her own problems with
drug addiction,” he said. “And got sober.
And relapsed. Having to go through all that
was not the most stable thing. But with that
said, I’ve always had my grandparents in my
life. From when I was little, they really tried
to take care of my mom and me.”
By the time he was a teenager, Nick was
drinking alcohol. Then starting with mari-
juana, he escalated to crystal meth, to which
he became addicted.
“I’m this 15-year-old kid living in this
meth house,” Nick said. “What is going to
happen if I continue on this path? And it
came to me. ‘I’m going to die.’”
“Nick was literally on the street, down
office as the principal seemed like the path
that I was meant to take.”
Miller is deeply committed to collabora-
tion and empowers her staff to prioritize
student needs above all else. As the super-
intendent/principal, her hands are on every
facet of school culture and the instructional
program. She monitors student learning
through daily classroom walk-throughs and
data collection and analysis. Her style of
servant leadership is known to have opened
doors of communication and to build an
inclusive atmosphere among staff, students
and families.
Miller credits her school community
with being a source of inspiration.
“I am constantly inspired by the people
around me,” she said. “A school site or
district is a very exciting and hard-working
environment. Teachers extend themselves on
a daily basis to create amazing educational
opportunities for their students. Students
learn and grow and become empowered young adults right before our eyes. Support
staff members make sure everyone else
can do their job in the best possible way.
The children, young adults, staff members,
parents and community members whom I
work with now and have worked with in
the past, truly inspire me each and every day.
My goal is to always work harder, accom-
plish more and try to keep up with all of
these very talented people.”
Miller has overcome a variety of chal-
lenges in the operations and resources areas,
always while prioritizing the safety of stu-
dents and staff. Through water issues and
rattlesnakes, she has always managed to
keep everyone safe and the environment
ideal for learning.
Miller participates as a board member of
Schools for Sound Finance, where she rep-
resents the unique challenges of small rural,
basic aid/community-funded districts. She
is an active ACSA member at both the state
and local levels, participating in training opportunities such as the Superintendent’s
Academy and acting as a representative
on the Elementary Education Council for
Region 2 since 2011.
Her staff and colleagues are quick to
applaud Miller’s approach.
She acknowledges that sometimes, inno-
vation can be difficult.
“Risk can be the heart of improvement
and improvement can be the soul of inno-
vation,” Miller said. “At my school sites, I
have worked hard to set a tone that opens
the door to an innovative environment. I do
that by connecting with staff members both
professionally and personally and being
willing to do any job on a campus. Any job!
Once mutual respect and trust are a tangible
and recognized element of the culture, real
innovation has a chance to flourish. Shared
leadership in an environment of trust and
support is the innovation that helped create
this success story.”
and out,” said Ja